The annual Brdo-Brijuni Process meeting was held today in Skopje, hosted by the Macedonian President, Gjorge Ivanov.

Along with the co-chairs of the initiative, the Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and the Slovenian President, Borut Pahor, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Bojko Borisov and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk also attended the meeting, as special guests.

The Brdo-Brijuni Process was established by Slovenia and Croatia in 2013 in order to further stabilise the conditions in Southeast Europe and strengthen regional cooperation.

The Croatian President expressed her support of the Southeastern European countries’ integration into the European Union, “subject to the European Commission’s strategy which includes, among other things, the resolution of bilateral issues, and good neighbourly relations.”

She refused to further comment on the relations between Serbia and Croatia, which took a turn for the worse last week. The countries are stuck in a diplomatic row after Croatia had declared the Serbian Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin persona non grata, and Serbia retaliated by banning his Croatian counterpart, Damir Krsticevic, from Serbia.

The President added she was in favour of the continuation of dialogue with Serbia.

“It takes two for a dialogue. This is not just about us discussing open questions, there has to be a true desire to resolve them,” she told the reporters in Skopje.

“Croatia is fully prepared, in the spirit of neighbourly relations, to resolve any outstanding bilateral issues, but, at the same time, we will preserve the dignity of Croatian state, and all the people of Croatia, including the Serb national minority,” the President said.

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